Photo: Getty Images
An influencer claims she was banned from TikTok for sharing weight loss advice that the application deemed "dangerous" and "harmful."
Liv Schmidt, 22, of New York, who had nearly 700,000 followers, is described by experts and dietitians of having shown an "unhealthy devotion to being thin," arguing she was glamorizing disordered eating and called for her content to be removed. TikTok then took action, shutting down Schmidt's account and claiming she violated community guidelines by sharing "disordered eating" posts.
Schmidt, however, defended her controversial advice during an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “Weight is a touchy topic, but that’s what the viewers want.”
Schmidt also claimed she intended to "save America from obesity one person at a time," as was previously included in her TikTok bio, according to the Wall Street Journal, due to her own personal struggles with body confidence.
“I’m trying to build a genuine thing,” Schmidt said, telling the Wall Street Journal that she was “confused and upset” by TikTok's decision and said she “felt misunderstood.”
Several critics, however, pointed out that Schmidt's 'what I eat in a day' posts, which linked to her Amazon storefront of dietary supplements, ankle weights, protein powders and a 'Skinny Group Community Chat' per subscription, were "incredibly harmful" and deemed by some to be "sickening."
“There’s not a single day where I don’t thank God that I didn’t download TikTok until I was in my 20s,” one person wrote on Reddit.
“I want better for our youth. Young girls have and will continue to, die due to s**t like this being peddled on the internet,” another wrote.